Using our interactive charts
Treatment admission data for Washington State were obtained from the Washington State Division of Behavioral Health and Recovery and were analyzed with a focus on marijuana trends. Note that the overall number of admissions for most drugs increased dramatically through 2010 before declining due to changes in treatment capacity and funding, therefore it is important to consider both the absolute (count) and relative (percentage) distributions of characteristics of interest. Data are presented by the number of treatment admissions per year. Data included are those for people who received public funding for their drug treatment, excluding Department of Corrections treatment. Those included are therefore of low socio-economic-status. Data on private/self-paid treatment are not available and this introduces a massive gap in our understanding of the total population’s drug use and consequences.
Total marijuana admissions peaked in 2009 at 10,710, as did alcohol-primary admissions. Heroin admissions and, more recently, admissions for which methamphetamine was listed as the primary substance have increased in recent years while marijuana and alcohol admissions have declined.
Comparing the proportion and rank of treatment admissions, marijuana peaked at 21.5% of all admissions in 2002, nearly re-ascended that peak in 2011, and declined to rank fourth in 2015.
Most people admitted to treatment who report marijuana as their primary drug also report a secondary drug. As seen below, alcohol is by far the most prominent. The proportion of patients reporting no other drug besides marijuana peaked in 2012 at 17.8%. Since then, other secondary drugs besides alcohol have become more common.
The stacked line charts below present the count of admissions across each age category, and the percent of all admissions for that year represented by that category. Younger users are at the top. First admissions, in the second figure, represent incidence or users newly identified as being problematic users, and are cases for which no prior publicly funded treatment for any drug, regardless of modality, is found for the individual from 1999 onwards. The vast majority of both overall admissions and first admissions are youth and young adults. Since 2002, those under 18 have made up from 41% to 52% of all admissions, and 51% to 64% of first admissions.
While the reason for referral to drug treatment is unknown, young people are less likely to self-refer than older adults. Referrals may come from criminal justice involvement. Over the years considered here, the proportion of all marijuana-primary admissions in which the patient was indicated as being on probation or parole peaked at 45.9% in 2002, and neared this peak in 2008. After 2010, however, less than 40% of all admitted clients have been on probation/parole.
Standardized admissions records ask for the race or ethnicity the client "most strongly identifies with at the time of application for services." Below, we combine Asian and Pacific Islander with the categories of Multiple Race and Other (which included 'unknown' and 'unspecified') due to small numbers. The increase in people identifying with multiple races, however, means this category is now the second most prominent. The share of clients in publicly funded treatment for issues with marijuana identified as white has steadily declined over the years presented here, however it is unknown if this is due to changes in reporting.